Adam Waterous, Founder of the Waterous Energy Fund, believes the Oil Sands Can Thrive in a Low-Cost Environment

Adam Waterous of Waterous Energy Fund disagrees. He thinks the industry can flourish even amid falling oil prices.

After working in the mergers and acquisitions department at First Boston Corporation in New York and consulting for McKinsey & Company in Toronto, Waterous established his investment boutique Waterous & Co in 2001 and eventually sold it to Scotiabank in 2005.

Early Life and Education

Adam Waterous co-founded Waterous & Company with his brother Jeff after working on energy private equity teams at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Blackstone Group. Additionally, he led natural resource investment banking at Barclay’s Capital Calgary. Adam graduated with honors from Harvard College with Magna Cum Laude distinction and was honored as a John Harvard Scholar.

Adam has been actively engaged with numerous industry, community, health and arts organizations and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his contributions. Currently he sits as chairman of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity – one of Canada’s premier postgraduate fine arts schools – as well as founding Alberta Energy Innovation Network and Alberta’s Energy Incubator Network. Adam and his wife Jan have resided in Banff for 22 years.

Professional Career

Adam Waterous left Scotiabank as its global head of investment banking in 2017 to establish his own private equity firm in Calgary with $400 million startup capital. With Gord Flatt of Brookfield Asset Management as its lead investor, Adam’s new fund specializes in controlling stakes of private oil-and-gas companies.

Waterous’ strategy is founded on their belief that hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies will transform the oil industry, enabling unconventional producers to tap previously inaccessible reserves more effectively. They also believe carbon taxes will help curb consumer-driven greenhouse gas emissions; Waterous and his wife Jan reside in Banff where they have purchased long-term lease of the train station with plans to turn it into Canada’s green transit laboratory with rail, intercept parking lots, shuttle services and shuttle buses.

Personal Life

Jan and he have called Banff home since 1997 and are active participants in industry, community, health, arts and education organizations as well as in the project to find transport management solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions rates in Canada.

Waterous left his post as Scotiabank’s global head of investment banking to establish a private equity firm called Waterous Energy Fund in January. His objective is to acquire oil and gas assets using innovative technology for investors at exceptional returns rates, potentially surpassing even what had previously been seen before.

Waterous co-founded Waterous & Co, which was eventually purchased by Scotiabank. He and his wife also own Mount Norquay ski resort near Calgary; plus, they own long-term lease rights to Banff’s train station.

Net Worth

Adam Waterous made waves at Scotiabank for years as one of its top global investment bankers, but recently made the leap from banker to private-equity fund founder with the establishment of Waterous Energy Fund backed by his personal funds in Calgary, which made its inaugural deal buying shares of heavy oil producer Northern Blizzard Resources Inc for $244 Million.

Waterous and his investors believe that the low oil price means many small, privately held companies with oil-and-gas assets are currently looking for buyers, creating an opportunity to invest in Alberta’s energy sector through what he terms “an extraordinary market”. He remains optimistic about its future potential due to new technologies applied to unconventional plays that offer high rates of return compared to similar plays elsewhere in Canada.